A Very Unexpected Journey
by littlegirlbigdreams
Summary: Agatha Willowblossom's life is normal. Plain. Boring and she is perfectly content with it. Until a wizard by the name of Gandalf comes and shatters her completely normal life in Hobbiton, drudging up memories of her flame filled past as she and her cousin accept the task of body guarding Bilbo Baggins on his quest to Erebor. (Thorin Oakenshield x OC, mainly.)
1. Chapter 1

Standing in front of Harlow Corynn, was a man cloaked in gray from head to toe.

"Erm, can I help you, sir?" She asked hesitantly. It was a risky question as she would feel inclined to help him if he asked for food or a blanket, since she had asked, after all.

The man hummed thoughtfully, only adding to Harlow's suspicions. Perhaps he was a merchant, and then she'd have to deal with his pestering to buy something when really, she had no money to spare.

"Yes. Yes, I do believe we can help each other." he gave her a soft smile, like he knew what she was thinking. "Could you tell me where the Corynn residence is?"

Harlow flinched as though she had been slapped.

That name rang of dragon fire and jewels under the misty mountains. The flashes of children's screams and her own mingled as she felt her eyes sting. "Who...Who wants to know?" Harlow's noble side wanted shake her silly for showing such weakness.

"I am Gandalf." He bowed his head slightly. "I am Gandalf the Grey, your ladyship."

"Shut up!" she hissed, looking around wildley, afriad someone might have heard him. When she was satisfied that no one was around, Harlow's chocolate brown eyes were as sharp as Elven swords. "How do you know who I am? How did you find me?"

"I am a wizard, Miss Corynn." Gandalf replied. "I know many things."

"I don't go by that name anymore." Harlow's voice softened as her mind wandered to her long dead family. "It's Agatha Willowbloom, now. I'm a Hobbit from Bree. A completely normal, quiet Hobbit that has done nothing extraordinary in her life ever."

"But you long for it, do you not?" The wizard persisted. "You long for adventure."

"Adventure won't pay the bills, Mr. Gandalf!" Agatha hissed, suppressing Harlow's desperate cry of 'Yes!' for adventure. "I have to think about my family! My brother needs more clothes, since he's always out climbing trees and my cousin can barely support us on his own."

Gandalf's eyes sparkled. "What if I...helped you?"

"What?"

"I have a job. One that both you and your cousin could take and in pays well. Enough to pay of your debt tenfold." the old wizard offered.

Agatha hesitated. That much money? There had to be a catch, a price that was more expensive than all the world's gold. Nevertheless, her curiosity defied her voice of reason. "...What job?"

"I need two bodyguards for a friend of mine that will be leaving Hobbiton for a while." Gandalf shifted uncomfortably. This was the catch. "He'll be going on a quest. I will give you the details later, if you decide to come."

There was the first alarm bell.

But still, the offer was tempting. "I'll talk to him about it." Agatha settled as a reply. No matter what it was, she and her cousins made decisions together. They had pulled each other out of the fiery inferno that day and they had risen her brother together.

But long before that, they had fought and hunted together, teased each other, laughed with each other, cried with each other.

Agatha and Harlow both would not make official decisions like this without talking to their cousin, William, first.

The wizard nodded, satisfied and turned around on his merry way. "If you shall decide to come, meet us at Bilbo Baggins' house tomorrow night!"

"Will!" Agatha whispered sharply to her older cousin, who was transfixed on a pretty Hobbit lady with curly red hair. Will could never get a girlfriend if his life depended on it. "William!" still nothing. Sighing, Agatha leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Aeron."

As expected, William whipped around, his eyes full of shock and horror. "Agatha, what are you-"

"Shut up and come with me."

Agatha had to count to ten to try and push Harlow back down. Harlow was a sarcastic, free-spirited, half-Hobbit, half-Dwarf. Agatha was a quiet, shy Hobbit from Bree that was plain.

They were two different sides of a coin. They had to be kept seperate.

Agatha led Will from out of the bustling birthday party of Lobelia Sacks-full-whatever.

Whoa. Down, Harlow. Down. Agatha reminded herself as she pulled her cousin behind a cart.

"Harlow, what were you thinking!" Will, or really at the moment, Aeron hissed in her ear. "What if someone heard us?"

"It was the only way to get you to stop drooling over that poor girl and listen to me." she shot back. Then, she glanced around again. "Someone offered us a job today. A wizard."

"A wizard?" Will repeated, face scruntched up in confusion.

Agatha nodded. "Apperantly it's some sort of bodyguard job."

"Bodyguards? Why in the world would a wizard want bodyguards?" her cousin asked, suspcious.

"Not him." Agatha shook her head. "A friend of his. Bilbo Baggins."

"The Hobbit that likes to sit in his garden and smoke a pipe? The one that hired me and Jr. for work last summer?" William confirmed. "Why in the world would he leave Hobbiton?"

"Said it was some sort of quest or whatever, but that's not the point." Agatha whispered. "The point is that he knew my name. My real one."

Will's head snapped up. "Then he really is a wizard..."

Agatha nodded.

"What else did he say?"

Agatha looked down at her hands, repeating the wizard's words in her head. Sure, the man might've been legit, but was he telling the truth? "He...He said that...that the money from the quest would be enough to pay off our debt...tenfold."

The look in Will's face was enough. He didn't believe that she was telling the truth.

But his eyes began to wander, back to the party where the little children were. Among them, was Gildon Jr., Agatha's brother.

When Will turned back to Agatha, they both knew.

They were going on a very unexpected journey.


	2. Chapter 2

The next night, Agatha and William put Gildon to bed, their stomachs filled with guilt.

They new he would be scared, Gildon had never been left alone before, but he would get by. Probably stay over at the neighbor's house, the two figured.

Quietly, the two cousins dug out weapons they thought they would never see again in their lives and fur coats that brought back bad members, as they still smelled of dragonfire.

When they arrived at Mr. Baggin's house, the only thing that seemed out of the normal was the glowing dwarven mark and the eerie silence.

"It says 'here'." William offered, yawning a bit.

Agatha snorted as she knocked on the freshly painted, emerald green door. "How very observant of you."

There was a moment and then the loud sound of boots shuffling and not so quiet whispers could be heard and the door was swung open.

"Agatha! William!" Bilbo cried out of relief to see some people he actually knew with some quality manners. "What in the world are you two doing here?"

"We were told that you needed bodyguards..?" Will frowned. "Some grey wizard told that to Agatha."

Understanding crossed Bilbo's face. "Oh." Then, realizing what Will had said, turned behind him to reveal a hunched over wizard that was much too tall for a Hobbit hole and a dozen or so dwarves. "Gandalf!"

Agatha sighed, obviously the poor fellow had not known of any arrangments of the sort. What a bloody annoying wizard. As Bilbo ushered them in, Agatha gave a piercing scan over the dwarves. "Thirteen of em'. Think any recognize us?" she turned over and whispered in a language that none of the other dwarves would have known. Elvish.

"Nae." Will responded a little bit louder in the same tongue. They'd learned Elvish when they were children because Will's sister, Aliana, had always been fasinated with the Elves. It came in handy when Dwarves, even in times of peace with the Elvish race, had stubbornly refused to learn a language other than their own.

"They don't look familiar except for-"

Agatha frowned as Will stopped, his eyes wide and followed his gaze to...Thorin Oakenshield, Lord of the Silver Fountains.

In suprise, Agatha accidently slipped into Dwarvish tongue. "Mahal..."

At this, the thirteen Dwarves snapped at attention. Dwarven speak was a secretive language, reserved for only those who studied the ancient carvings...that were in Erebor.

"How do you know how to speak Dwarven?" A bald Dwarf snarled. He was covered in tattoos and furs, with knuckle guards and had an extreme air of viciousness about him.

Agatha was taken back, stammering for an excuse.

"She heard it from a Dwaren group that passed through here a year or so ago," Will backed her up, giving a nervous laugh. "My cousin, see, she's a bit silly. Picks up a few languages here and there, y'now, growing up in a place full of travelers like Bree, ya?"

Agatha caught on and nodded quickly. "It's an ol' habit, ya see?" she mentally cursed herself. She was slipping hold of Harlow again. "It makes it easier to understand the cutomers. I'm sorry if I offended you, sir."

"You have offended no one, Miss Willowblossom." Gandalf interuppted before the Dwarves pressed the matter. "You just surprised Dwalin, that is all."

"You never said anything about two more in the company." Thorin hissed at the wizard.

Agatha couldn't help but stare at him like he was something entirely new to her. The last time she'd seen him was that time at the winter ball.

There were Dwarves everywhere in elegant gowns and jewels.

Harlow had felt like a weed in a rose garden, a crow among swans, but as tradition went, she had to attend at least once in her life: Her a hundred and sixtieth birthday.

Aliana had been there with her, being the social butterfly she was, and dressed Harlow in a blood red gown (Honestly, she would have preffered green or black, red was just too bold) with silver lining and Harlow hated it.

She saw the prince once, from very far away and he looked just as uncomfortable as she did, though much more impressive.

Harlow still could remember how insignificant she realized she really was that day.

"And most certainly not a woman."

Agatha couldn't help but roll her eyes, but Harlow wanted to borrow a battle axe from a certain bald headed, tattooed Dwarf and possibly decapitate the Prince in front of her.

"I am well aware of the questionable circumstances of a, er, female accompanying us, but," Gandalf spoke gently, knowing of a Dwarvish woman's strength and anger. "Miss Willowblossom is skilled enough to take care of Bilbo, as is her cousin, Mr. Smith."

Will snorted. Mahal, those names they chose were so Lilly-livered that just thinking about them made Aeron's stomach queasy.

"She should be-"

Gandalf interuppted Thorin before he could say anything else offensive. "Bilbo, come, you need to read this contract."


	3. Chapter 3

After an exciting, definitely exaggerated, probably-not-true tale on the origin of golf, Bilbo couldn't help glancing at the two cousins.

"Can you promise I will come back?" The hobbit asked, trying to keep his tone level.

Agatha and Will glanced at each other. There was never a guarantee that you'd come back safely from a quest into the unknown. Never. No matter how many bodyguards you had.

"No," Will started, watching Bilbo as though he were a delicate vase at the edge of the cupboard. "No, we can't."

"But we can promise to protect you the best we can." Agatha reassured Bilbo, "Will and I, we've..." Agatha sighed, remembering that she couldn't tell Bilbo about her and her family's past. "We've traveled before and we came from Bree, we know how to deal with ruffians."

Bilbo sighed, rubbing his face, tiredly. "Let me think about it."

The two nodded and left for the raided, but clean kitchen.

"Do you think he'll sign it?" Agatha whispered, sliding down into a chair.

Will glanced at her with a snort, "Not a chance, he's too quiet and polite to do something like last a day without his handkerchief."

Before Agatha could even try to defend Bilbo, a low, deep, smooth voice interrupted her.

"_Far over the misty mountains cold_,"

Will and Agatha went rigid.

It was the song from their homeland, and the same one that they had used forever to put Gildon Jr. to bed. Trying to distract them from the singing, Will leaned over to Agatha. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Jr.?" When Will nodded, Agatha sighed. "Yeah, I think he'll be fine. He'll probably cry after a while and he'll be lonely, but he has his friends so he'll be fine."

"Won't really matter if Bilbo decides not to go, though, huh?"

Agatha shook her head as she slowly seeped into the song. It brought back memories of him, of Smaug.

He was a large dragon, no doubt, but his bright reptilian eyes were the ones that stroke fear into the hearts of even the bravest of Dwarven warriors. Agatha's lip tremmbled as the memories flooded back to her.

_Fire._

_Her home was on fire. And she was scared, no, terrified. And alone._

_But only her family was on her mind. Aeron, papa, momma, Aliana._

_Distracted by her thoughts and the little toddler in her arms, Harlow didn't notice the fireball until it was too late._

_A scream ripped out of her raw throat, mingling with the humans' around her._

"_Harlow!" her little brother, Gildon yelped, tears overflowing his tanned, pudgy cheeks._

"_I'll... be okay, d-don't, w-worry about me, B-buddy." she managed to rasp out, breathing shallowly. "Mahal," she ground out, "We...need t-to get to Aeron. T-the wall, he-**Mahal**, he'll be there..." Harlow bit back her pain as much as she could, clutching onto her brother tighter and dashing to the edge of Dale, crying out and cussing in cold sweat everytime a screeching human rammed into her ar-_

Agatha's head snapped up when Will started to shake her left arm, the one with the burn tracing up from the edge of her pinky to her collar bone.

Though, it didn't hurt, Agatha still flinched away.

"Sorry," Will whispered in apology. "But you were doing it again. Dazin' off to the past, weren't ya?"

Agatha nodded mutely, her calloused hand finding it's way to Will's.

There wasn't anything romantic in the gesture, it's just something they'd gotten used to.

It'd been tough, raising a child and starting off with a heavy debt, but they always stuck together, nonetheless and they'd gotten closer as a family.

Agatha could stillremember the times when they had fought everytime they saw each other, like cats and dogs. They'd tease each other relentlessly and do their best to get the other in trouble.

Agatha and Harlow could both agree that that was one thing good that had happened because of Smaug.

"Get some sleep," Will whispered, "I'll wake you up if Bilbo decides to go."

Agatha smilled softly, so soft that it might as well have not existed. "Thank you." And then she drifted off into sleep, leaning her head on Will's shoulder, not letting go of his hand.


	4. Chapter 4

A ray of bright light shone through the small round windows of Mr. Baggins' home, hitting Agatha square on the face.

Groaning, Agatha sat up and made her way to the kitchen.

Will, who had been leaning on her shoulder, fell down with a thud and a wide awake yelp "Ow!"

Agatha turned back at him, giving her cousin a sleepy glare. "Shut up or else you'll wake up the others!" then she mumbled to herself, "The last thing I want to deal with is thirteen sleep deprived Dwarves." _Mahal_, ever since they'd excepted this job, keeping control of Harlow had been increasingly hard for her.

Will snorted, obviously hearing Agatha's muttering. "I don' think we'll have to worry abou' them,"

He pointed to the now empty living room. "They left already."

Agatha couldn't help but feel a pinch of disappointment. Quickly shaking it off, Agatha dug out two lone apples that'd been left alone and tossed one to Will. _Hey, what Bilbo didn't know wouldn't kill him._

The two didn't even take a bite into their apples, staring into the living room, wondering what could have been.

"Well, I guess we should wake up Biblo," Will took a bite out of his apple.

"There'll be no need for that, Mr. Smith." the little Hobbit grinned at them from the entrance to the kitchen. "It's time for an adventure!"

Will and Agatha rushed to catch up with the suddenly full of energy Hobbit in front of them, feeling slightly winded.

"Wait!" Biblo called out to the pack of Dwarves and a certain pain-in-the-booty wizard. "I signed it!" He called again, running up to Balin, with a sheepish smile.

"Give them the ponies," a Thorin's deep voice brought her attention to the brooding prince. He didn't look too excited on the idea of the three's arrival.

Agatha watched him warily, trying not to look too obvious. The prince was so cold on the outside, but really just hurt and he missed his home. She could understand that pain and somehow, she supposed that she admired his bravery as well.

Thorin had united the Dwarves even after their home had been destroyed, after he had lost_** everything**_. Neither Agatha or Harlow could ever compare to that bravery, after all, after she's lost her home, her family, she chose to bury it among the flames and never think about it again.

–-(AN: I'm skipping the scene where they tell Thorin's background 'cause I'm a lazy, lazy booty, now, on with the journey!)-

"Something isn't right." Agatha whispered in Elvish when the Dwarven prince had decided to make camp at an old abandoned brick home. "The house isn't old enough for it to have fallen apart from age."

Will nodded, his fluffy brows drawn together in concentration. "I was thinking the same thing. There aren' any sign o' this bein' hit by earthquakes, either." he muttered in Elvish.

Agatha looked up at Will, "There are mountains around here, so it must've been some big creature." she looked back at the collapsing house. "But what could have been that bi-"

The two's stomaches suddenly felt heavy. "Trolls," they breathed out at the same time, this time in English.

"Watch Bilbo." Agatha reacted quickly, letting her instincts take control. She rushed up to the home, not waiting for her cousin's reply.

The wizard and the Dwarf were arguing. "I will not go near that place." the prince snarled, glaring heavily at the wizard, making Agatha's steps slow down a bit.

"Why not? We could make for the hidden valley!" Gandalf protested, not noticing Agatha come up beside him.

"Yes, we need to keep moving." she interuppted Thorin before he shot back some nasty insult at the old wizard. "This place, there's something's not right about it, Master Dwarf." Agatha thought about saying something about there possibly being Trolls nearby, but thought better of it. She was still just a simple Hobbit woman from the Shire to them; what would she know of monsters besides her books?

Both the Gandalf and Thorin turned to her, surprised by her sudden boldness.

"Those _**things **_betrayed my people, _**Miss**_." Thorin hissed at her, get much too close for her comfort. "I would rather die then ask them for help."

"The Mirkwood Elves and the Elves of Rivendell are two different kingdoms, _**sir**_." Agatha pressed on, forgetting that she should keep her mouth shut about the Elves. Her, Will's and Bilbo's life depended on that, not to mention the wizard and thirteen Dwarves. "Your company matters more than your foolhardy pride!"

"My word is final." the prince snarled back, turning away from her.

Growling several Elvish cuss words, Agatha stormed down back to Will while Gandalf kept trying to change Thorin's mind.


	5. Chapter 5

"Trolls!"

Agatha and Will's heads snapped up from their dinner as the the two twins, Kili and Fili burst from the woods. Thorin's head whipped around to his nephews, completley forgetting his conversation with Dwalin about troublesome wizards that had run off earlier that day and three Hobbits.

Really, they weren't as quiet as they thought they were. "What?" he growled, scanning the two boys, making sure they weren't wounded badly.

"Th-they,"Killi gasped out, tired from running and the excitement, "Took the..."

"Ponies!" Filli finished, as tired as his brother, if not more.

"You're lucky that's all they took!" Will hissed out, remembering that a certain Hobbit they'd been hired to protect had been with the two Dwarven lads. Figuring the worst, he dashed into the forest, knowing Agatha would be behind him in a moment.

"What happened to Bilbo?" She asked, yanking their weapons from their packs. Agatha and Will were both more of the strategic type of fighters, but she'd had been taught to conceal her emotions when she lived in Dale because of her social status.

"...He's with the ponies..."

Cussing loudly in Elvish and English, Agatha finally freed the weapons and ran towards the forest, not caring about the airheaded Dwarves behind her.

–-

"Are 'ere any more o' ya hidin' where they shouldn'?" A troll jabbed at Bilbo, who was oddly covered in...were those troll boggies (AN: Harry Potter reference XD)?

"N-nope," the little Hobbit stuttered, looking around desperately while trying not to make it look to obvious. The poor lad thought he'd been abandoned, though, actually, that wasn't exactly wrong, but still, Will had to admire that bravery.

"Here you are, you Meathead." Agatha shoved Will his long-handle axe.

Will grinned, but didn't say thank you, still watching the trolls carefully, waiting for the perfect moment. But his heartbeat was racing in the thrill and he could tell Agatha felt it, too. The situation was so similar to when they had been children and had been hunting trolls with Agatha's father, Will's father and their grandfather.

"Drop him!" Killi yelled, rushing out of the bushes and knocking the cousins out of their daze.

Agatha slapped her forhead. Not even she could find the right cuss words for this stupidity.

Will gave a full-bellied laugh and darted out the same time the company did. Agatha slapped her forhead again.

Giving a heavy sigh, she unseathed her sword and joined, a playful grin that no one had seen in ages unwipable from her face. It felt good to be back.

For once Agatha let her other side of her, the one that had faced Smaug out. Harlow had been unleashed. And those trolls were in trouble. (AN: This must be so confusing, trying to remember that Harlow and Agatha are the same person _ it's hard for me to remember, too, so, until we reveal their past, I'm just going to keep calling her Agatha unless there are fight scenes).

It'd been ages since she last did this, but Harlow's muscles remembered and soon she was darting around the trolls legs, not staying in one spot for long, making clean-cut gashes as she went.

"Aeron, I wanna fly!" Harlow grinned, yelling to her cousin in Elvish, knowing he'd understand. She ran forward to her cousins hands that were placed palm up, waiting for her. Harlow crouched and gave out a merry laugh when Aeron tossed her straight up onto the back of a troll. Perfect.

Harlow stabbed her leg dagger in the troll's neck, swinging around to kick it in the eye. The troll gave out a girly, pained yelp as he stumbled back, but she held her grip by the dagger and she was about to sever his head but another troll, hearing his friend call for help, yanked Harlow off and threw her to the ground.

Slowly, Harlow's vision started to fade black, but not before she muttered a small "Mahal, I hate trolls".


End file.
